Pedal to the Metal

I was probably more of a petrolhead as a kid than I am now I'm old enough to get behind the wheel myself. My admittedly-not-very-packed diary used to be cleared every other Sunday so I could absorb every minute of every Formula One race, and my collection of model cars is still clogging up the loft to this day. But since I've had my own license, I've probably become more concerned with reaching 60mpg rather than 60mph. But for one morning, it was nice to flip that on its head at Redline Karting in Huthwaite.

This was only the second time I'd been karting, but I was still hoping that a combination of beginner's luck and some well-hidden driving talent would propel me past truck racing champion Ryan Smith and to the top of the leaderboard. However, as soon as I sat in my kart, and watched the rest of the field race away from me, I knew that wasn't going to be the case. I quickly settled into a routine of 'not getting in the way of the faster guys coming round to overtake me', which probably shows I've not quite got Lewis Hamilton's racing instinct. On the few occasions I did manage to hook-up a half-decent lap, though, I felt the very same adrenaline rush that Hamilton and co must get when they're screeching through the streets of Monte Carlo.

And as for my time? Well, I was around 9 seconds off the fastest lap of the day, which, considering the track only takes around 30 seconds to get around, must mark me out as some sort of record-holder, mustn't it?

Click on the picture below for more of my blogs and shows.